In his Sept. 19th letter, "Stop wasting our money on solar, wind subsidies," Kenneth Keister states "Federal money for wind and solar products isn't free money. It came out of our pockets or was borrowed . . . The usual something-for-nothing crew went squealing to the trough."

For the record: The federal government subsidizes the oil, gas and coal industries between $10 to $52 billion every year, even as the industry continues to report record profits. Efforts to remove small portions of these subsidies have been repeatedly defeated in Congress. Add on all the monies (and lives) spent to protect the oil industries interest in the Middle East ­ and we are talking real appropriations. Who do you think is paying for these subsidies?

The world's scientific community is united in the cause of climate change ­ carbon emissions from fossil fuels. Federal Disaster Relief spends costs billions due to erratic/violent weather patterns caused by climate change. The combination of all of the above makes subsidizing solar and wind not only wiser investment of our tax dollars but one we should implement fully and immediately.